be free, be happy, be peaceful

May all find the teacher within to guide oneself towards unconditional love and peace

Friday, November 13, 2009

About Advaita - Non-dualism

Yoga and Buddhism’s teachings are the same – Advaita, non-dualism.

When we are not pure full of ignorance and impurities, we are the impure consciousness – the lower self. But when we purify ourselves until there is no more ignorance and impurities, we are the pure consciousness – the higher Self.

And this lower self and this higher Self is still the same consciousness but when we are impure and attached to the body, the mind and the ego, we are being projected as the lower self, and when we are pure and not attached to the body, the ego and the mind, then we are being projected as the higher Self – the pure consciousness which is the same as the universal consciousness and not different from all other beings consciousness.

When we are impure, there is a separateness of the pure God consciousness and our impure beings consciousness – there is a God and there are beings. But when we had purified ourselves and being pure, then there is no more separateness of the pure God consciousness and the pure beings consciousness – the beings and the God are One, there is no “God” and there is no “beings”. It is because when everything is pure, there is no names and no forms, there is no separation and no differences at all, just one Being.

When we are impure, we have ignorance, selfishness, separation and differentiation from other beings. And these impurities and wrong identification that we are a separate individual self from other beings, had create duality in our mind. Our mind is being conditioned with the concept of dualism. And this dualism is creating good and bad, likes and dislikes in our selfish egoistic identification with the body and the mind. And thus we are having lots of cravings for the things that we like and aversions for the things that we dislike. And so, irritation, frustration, dissatisfaction, disappointment, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, desires, unhappiness and suffering occur in us when we can’t get the things that we like and when we are having the things that we dislike, also when we lost the things that we like and can’t get rid of the things that we dislike.

When we are so caught up in duality, we will perceive everything as “this is good”, “that is bad”, “this is success”, “that is failure”, “this is meaningful”, “that is meaningless”, “this is happy”, “that is sad”, “this is compliment”, “that is condemnation”, “this is comfortable”, “that is not comfortable”, “this is beautiful” and that is “ugliness”. And so, we are creating lots of conditions for ourselves and for other beings. We will be chasing after something that we are agreeable with and which make us feel good and meaningful about ourselves and at the same time, we are resisting something that we are not agreeable with and which make us feel bad and worthless about ourselves. And thus, “pride and arrogance” and “low self-esteem and depression” are being generated in us.

To be free from all these impurities and “side effects”, we need to know what is Advaita, non-duality. We need to apply the concept of non-duality in our lives.

We stop identify ourselves with the thinking mind, the selfish ego and the analytical intellect which create the concept of duality. When we come in contact with any objects that we perceive through our sense organs – the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the skin and the thinking faculty, we learn to be an observer or witness. We will learn that any sensations that arise when our senses come in contact with an object whether pleasing or unpleasing, that they are very momentary, they will changed and don’t last long. And so we don’t have to attach to any sensations at all whether good or bad sensations. And we will not give any values or meanings to all these sensations and stop categorized them into “good” and “bad”, “pleasing” and “unpleasing”, “comfortable” and “not comfortable”. And so, we will stop generating likes and dislikes. When we have no strong liking and disliking, there will be no strong cravings and aversions towards all the things out there. And thus, we are peaceful, and content most of the time.

Due to the understanding of Advaita – non-dualism, we see everything and all beings are equal in the essence of consciousness. There is no differences of superiority or inferiority. We all depend on the five elements to be exist in this universe, it doesn’t matter if we are being labeled as “good” or “bad”, “kind” or “evil”, “healthy” or “not healthy”, “fat” or “thin”, “pretty” or “not pretty”, “short lived” or “long lived”, “happy” or “sad”, “peaceful” or “not peaceful”, “patient” or “impatient”. We respect each and everyone’s different thinking, cultures, languages, beliefs and personalities. And so, we stop having judgment, comparison, competition, criticism and expectation. Everything and everyone has to go through birth and death – forming, sustaining, decaying and disappearing. And by knowing this impermanence, we are free from attachments towards all the phenomena and objects in the world. When there is no attachment, we will be free from greed and lustful desires, and thus, free from fears and worries. And so, there is only pure love, peace and compassion in our heart.

We will accept ourselves as we are, accept other beings as they are, accept all the changes that are going on unceasingly, accept the law of impermanence, accept and forgive all the imperfections in this world. We are content and grateful for all the good things that we are having now. We are still breathing, we are still able to experience, to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, to feel, to think, to move, to act and to express through speech and actions. But may all our intentions, thoughts, actions and speech be pure.

It is due to dualism, we have selfishness, we have love and hatred, we have happiness and suffering, we have wants and don’t wants. And all these differentiations bring so much problems and unhappiness for ourselves and for other beings.

May we all be free from duality and find peace and true happiness in our heart.